The action's hotting up on the corporate calendar in the coming week, as a stream of commodity companies take to the battleground.
 
Petrofac gets the oil ball rolling on Monday and after its last update in June made for such good reading, investors will be hoping the same is true of its interim results.
 
There has been a handsome number of contract wins of late, including a $400 million one with the Kuwait government which has justified its steadily rising share price.
 
Energy group Cairn Energy  takes to the floor with its first-half numbers on Tuesday, which have been partly overshadowed by its recent deal to sell a substantial stake in Cairn India to fellow FTSE 100 heavyweight Vedanta Resources.
 
Analysts at BNP Paribas forecasts: 'On headline numbers, we look for sales of around $330 million compared with $17 million last time, profit before tax of $75 million and EPS of two cents per share, with those numbers all reflecting the start of the contribution from the CIL/Rajasthan fields.'
 
Shareholders are also likely to keep their eyes peeled for an update on the company's two wells drilled offshore Greenland.
 
It's the turn of FTSE 100 giant Tullow Oil midweek which is likely to post revenues in the region of $500 million, with pre-tax profits expected to have doubled to around $100 million.
 
Tullow Oil has already outlined its 56,000 barrels per day production quota for the first half, compared to nearer 60,000 bpd in 2009, but higher energy prices should help offset the output decline.
 
On the activity front, Sanjeev Bahl, analyst at Numis, comments: 'We expect Tullow's interims to focus on development activity in Ghana and Uganda We expect the company to provide further detail on the latest guidance on production start-up in Ghana and completion of the farm-down of the company's Ugandan assets to CNOOC and Total.
 
'We remain concerned that sale proceeds from Uganda and recoverable resource at Tweneboa/Owo could undershoot consensus expectations, hence our hold recommendation.'
 
Premier Oil follows suit on Thursday and is expected to post revenues of around $390 million and pre tax profits of $56 million, according to analysts at BNP Paribas.
 
'These results should be helped by higher energy prices but more importantly a full period of contribution from the Oilexco acquisition although the full tax benefits of that deal will probably only show up in the group's cashflow statement.
 
'Premier remains our top pick in the sector with a target price of 1,685p.'
 
Mining heavyweights also go head to head on Wednesday.
 
FTSE 100-listed BHP Billiton made headlines this week after swooping in with a $39 billion offer for US fertiliser group Potash Corp directly to shareholders, after the board rejected its proposal.
 
The company's shares have dropped 9 per cent in the last few days on unease over the scale of the deal and Billiton now faces a difficult decision on what move to next make.
 
Events are altogether less frenetic for Antofagasta which recently reported a rise in second quarter production levels, leaving it on track to deliver an attractive set of numbers.
 
Commodities aside, housebuilders Bovis Homes muscle in on the action earlier in the week and there should be little in the way of surprises given their recent updates so shareholders will likely be seeking further progress.
 
On Thursday drinks giant Diageo takes to the floor with a set of full-year results that are likely to strike a subdued tone.
 
Sam Hart, analyst at Charles Stanley, comments: 'The difficult economic environment has led to some trading down by consumers and destocking by distributors. The pressures were most intense during the first half, but encouragingly there were some early signs of recovery in the third quarter and the improving trend should have continued into the fourth quarter.'
 
Outlook comments will be scrutinised for any further evidence that consumers are starting to trade up and that recovery is coming through, with a particular emphasis on operating growth guidance for 2011, Hart adds.
 
Hikma Pharmaceuticals will also take to the floor on Thursday, and after an upbeat interim report back in May, the pressure is on for the company to report another set of strong results.
 
Charles Stanley is predicting a 10.7 per cent increase in group sales to $360 million, within which the largest division (Branded) should report growth of 7 per cent. Group operating profit is forecast to grow from $53 million to $67 million, but eps growth is likely to have been constrained by a higher tax charge.
 
Also set to impact the markets next week is a spate of economic updates, including CBI Retail Sales on Thursday.
 
July's report painted a particularly upbeat picture of the retail sector, with reported sales balance rising from -5 to +33. However, this probably captured some of the sales from the warm weather and the World Cup. As such, analysts are forecasting a slight drop back in August.
 
Just 24 hours later, the second release relating to second-quarter GDP will be published and is likely to add to doubts over whether the impressive pace of expansion first reported will prove sustainable.
 
Economists at Capital Economics comments: 'The breakdown of growth by expenditure components is likely to reveal that growth was one again heavily dependent on consumers and the government. Sales are only 40 per cent of total household spending but we have nonetheless pencilled in a robust rise in household spending of about 0.7 per cent. We suspect government spending also posted a robust increase.
 
'But with investment likely to have fallen after a surge in the second quarter, evidence of the long-awaited rebalancing of the economy will be fairly limited.'
 
Monday 23 August

Results

(Interims) Amlin, Bovis Homes Group, Hiscox, Kingspan Group, Lamprell, Lombard Medical Technologies, Petrofac, RCG Holdings
 
Trading updates

Punch Taverns
 
AGMs

FFastFill, Iomart, Tata Tea
 
Tuesday 24 August

Results

(Interims) Aer Lingus Group, Cairn Energy, Corin Group, CRH, Development Securities, Gem Diamonds, H&T Group, John Wood Group, Jupiter Fund Management, Oxford Biomedica, Persimmon, Plaza Centers, Promethean World, Source BioScience, Spectris, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Vitec Group, WPP Group
 
Trading updates

Persimmon
 
AGMs

Acorn Income Fund, ProVen Growth and Income
 
EGMs

OJSC Polyus Gold
 
Wednesday 25 August

Results

(Finals) BHP Billiton, Monitise
(Interims) Admiral Group, Aggreko, Antofagasta, Ark Therapeutics, Arriva, Axis-Shield, Chime Communications, Clarkson, Costain Group, FBD Holdings, Forth Ports, Glanbia, Paddy Power, Pinewood-Shepperton, Serco Group, Severfield-Rowen, SIG, Talvivaara Mining Company, Tullow Oil, UK Coal, Vislink
 
AGMs

Aberdeen New Dawn Inv Trust, Coral Products, Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities, Infrastructure India , Latham, Livermore Investments, Park Plaza Hotels, Speymill Group, Ten Alps
 
Divided payment date

(Final) Halma
(Interim) Microgen
 
Thursday 26 August

Results

(Finals) Haynes Publishing Group, Impala Platinum
(Interims) Amec, Asterand, Avis Europe, Biocompatibles International, Bloomsbury Publishing, Carillion, Chaucer Holdings, Chesnara, Churchill China, Communisis, CPP Group, Filtrona, G4S, Henry Boot, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Hunting, Huntsworth, IMI, International Public Partnerships, Kazakhmys, Macfarlane Group, New World Resources, office2office, Petropavlovsk, Premier Oil, Robert Walters, Salamander Energy, Savills, SEGRO, Sportech, STV Group, Unite Group, William Hill, X5 Retail Group
 
Trading updates

Haynes Publishing Group
 
AGMs

Canisp, Pheonix IT Group, Plant Impact
 
Friday 27 August

Results

(Interims) Aga Rangemaster Group, Biome Technologies, Computacenter, Davis Service Group, Independent News & Media, JKX Oil & Gas, Lavendon Group, Marshalls, National Bank of Greece, New Britain Palm Oil, Phoenix Group Holdings, Rightmove, Stratic Energy Corporation, SVG Capital, T Clarke, Yule Catto
 
AGMs

Prospect Japan Fund
 
EGMs

EPE Special Opportunities, Equity Partnership Income Shares
 
Dividend payment date

(Final) Aberdeen New Dawn Inv Trust, Heath (Samuel) & Sons, Kewill, Latham (James), ProVen
(Interim)Bluehone, Brunner Inv Trust, Edinburgh UK Tracker Trust, Independent Inv Trust, Matrix European Real Estate Investment Trust, Reed Elsevier